This Japanese cruise attendant’s job is to help Westerners feel comfortable bathing naked around a bunch of strangers

A Princess
Cruises ship allows patrons to enjoy the Japanese
ritual of bathing in an onsen, which is a hot spring-heated
natural body of water.

It's custom to get naked while in an onsen, which are
gender-segregated.

To help non-Asian patrons on the cruise feel
comfortable with bathing nude around strangers, ship attendant
Hiroki Matsuo uses his psychology degree and training to
ease folks into the new idea - and ultimately reap the benefits.

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When Princess
Cruises introduced the Diamond Princess, its only ship to
exclusively sail around Asia, the designers included something
that would appeal to its clientele: a Japanese hot spring, or
onsen. Guests can take to the baths for a communal rite
that's popular in Japan, as well as
Korea and
Taiwan.

And the Princess Cruises' onsen doesn't miss out on one classic
part of the hot spring experience: bathing in the nude around a
bunch of strangers (of your own gender).

Communal hot springs are commonplace in much of East Asia,
where most of the Diamond Princess' guests are from.

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But many of its Westerner guests aren't familiar with the
experience. And they're often a bit freaked out by
the idea of getting naked in public and jumping in a hot bath
with a bunch of other naked strangers.

The Telegraph
wrote earlier this month about 26-year old
Hiroki Matsuo, an attendant on the Diamond Princess whose job
responsibilities include making the ship's non-Asian guests feel
comfortable with the idea of bathing naked.

"Even though the indoor baths are segregated into men and
women's, foreigners are usually anxious when they learn that
nudity is compulsory," Matsuo, who has a degree in
psychology from the University of Arkansas,
told The Telegraph.

To ease them into it, he gives the guests a small towel to cover
themselves with until they're in the water. He also suggests
patrons go earlier in the day, as it's common in Japan to bathe
after dinner or before bed.

caption

An onsen in the Nagano Prefecture of Japan.

source

Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images

There are a few different ways to enjoy the onsen
experience. One common method is
switching from the hottest waters to the coldest. It's
important to sit and relax rather than swim around. And you
should never wring out your towel in the bath.

Routinely dipping into hot or cold water is becoming
popular in certain circles. Life coach Tony Robbins said the
final step of his morning routine is a five-minute stay in a
super-hot sauna followed by a jump in a cold pool. As
Business Insider's Rich Feloni reported, the cold plunge is
refreshing, and can kickstart your adrenaline and
endorphins.

Matsuo has seen the de-stressing effects himself. "It's not a
therapy, a surgery or a treatment, but it still causes some kind
of physical and mental change," Matsuo
said.

"Afterwards, many tell me they feel like a new person," he
added. "I've seen some go into the baths looking grumpy and come
out smiling. And, surprisingly, a lot of people make friends when
they're naked in the baths!"